First Step Podcast Podcast

Congratulations—you have a rising kindergartner! This season can be overwhelming for many reasons, but we don’t want the transition from Waumba Land to UpStreet to be one of them! We want to help make it as seamless as possible by equipping you with everything you need to know before it’s time to bring your child to their new environment on Sunday morning. In Episode 11, Kendra Fleming and Gina Ragsdale talk about exactly what you can expect in UpStreet, and Gina shares all of the great ways our elementary team desires to partner with you as a parent. She not only unpacks what UpStreet is all about, but provides more details about some fun events for your family, such as KidStuf and Kindergarten Kick Start.  Gina and her husband, Kevin, have three grown children. She has been part of our KidMin staff for about 17 years and is incredibly passionate about elementary school students. (She used to be a kindergarten teacher before she went into full-time ministry!) We can’t wait for you to hear from Gina and lea

Did you know that play is one of the best ways preschoolers experience relationships with others? It’s a super important part of their development! But between cooking, cleaning, laundry, work, etc., playing with your kids can be hard to fit into your day. Good news! There are moments that already happen in your everyday life where you can easily prioritize fun and play. In Episode 10, Kendra Fleming and Sara Dickens talk about great ways to have fun with your kids. From a variety of fine motor skill activities to creative ways to turn up the dial on fun things you’re already doing, we hope these ideas will help you create a home your kids think is awesome and make your family feel more connected. Sara has been married to her husband, Jamey, for eight years and is the mom of four amazing kids (4, 3, 1, and 1 month). She worked in full-time ministry for 10 years before becoming a stay-at-home mom. Sara’s one of the most fun parents we know and we think you’ll love hearing from her!   Check out BusyToddler

Making your marriage a priority when you are parenting young kiddos is tough! There’s always someone who needs your attention, you’re typically running on lack of sleep, and it’s easy to put your relationship on the backburner. It’s countercultural, but the best parenting you will ever do is to build a home where your marriage comes before your children. In Episode 9, Kendra Fleming and Matt Hayes talk about what it looks like to be intentional about pouring into your marriage. They highlight four practical ways to put some time and energy back into your relationship. Matt has been in ministry for 10 years and is currently the high school director at Woodstock City Church. He’s been married to his amazing wife, Larson, for 8 years and is the dad of four great kiddos (ages 6, 4, 2, and 4 months). We know that a healthy marriage creates a healthy family, and we hope these tips will be helpful as you think about how to put your marriage first!   The 5 Love Languages Read the book// Take the test Connect w

One of the most amazing things about the world is that every person is created differently with unique strengths, weaknesses, and personalities. So why, when our kids are young, do we tend to have the expectation that there’s only one right way to behave (follow the rules, sit still, etc.)? As parents, we often expect children to all be motivated by the same things rather than leaning into their individual wirings. In Episode 8, Kendra Fleming talks to Jennifer Walker about how to parent your child according to their unique design, providing a special emphasis on Toddlerhood. Jennifer provides great insight and tools to help you be a more effective and less stressed parent by unraveling what motivates your child and encouraging you to parent them through that lens. She talks about five different motivators:   Social Movement Engineer Rule follower Touch Jennifer has over 20 years of experience as a pediatric nurse and has partnered with thousands of families to foster happy and healthy children and homes.

Have you ever wished your child was more grateful? It’s never too early to start teaching them about gratitude and, in fact, it’s a great thing in these early years! Andy Stanley once said, “Unexpressed gratitude is ingratitude,” and we want to help you teach your child simple prayers and habits that will instill in them practices of expressing gratitude that they will carry with them the rest of their life. In this episode, Kendra Fleming shares five simple ideas that will help you begin to weave thankfulness into the heart and life of your preschooler. Taking just a few of these simple steps will expand the idea of gratitude for your child and will help you raise an awesome, grateful kid. Here are a few questions we talked about in this episode. These are great questions to help get your preschooler thinking about things they are thankful for. What are you thankful for and why? What is something good that happened today? What is something you want to thank God for?   Andy Stanley sermon: I Owe Who Conn

Life with preschoolers is busy, and it can be difficult to find time to talk with your kids about God. Sometimes it seems impossible to fit one more thing into your day! We want to encourage you to simply lean into the moments that are already happening in your day-to-day life and and use those as a springboard to create habits in your home that will help establish a strong spiritual foundation in the heart of your preschooler. In Episode 6, Kendra Fleming and Emily Knox talk about three times of day when you can easily incorporate great habits and start conversations about God. Emily joined North Point Ministries 12 years ago. She helps lead and support our teams in UpStreet, our elementary environment, and she has four kids (ages 11, 9, 7, and 3). Emily is a fantastic mom, and you’ll love hearing about some of the habits she’s established in her home to help lead her kiddos toward their heavenly Father. Check out music by North Point Kids on iTunes Connect with Waumba Land Instagram // Facebook

Every parent wants their child to know they are loved and accepted no matter who they become, what they accomplish, or how they mess up. The expression of unconditional love is one of the greatest things you can provide. But how do you know if you’re communicating it well? In this episode, Kendra Fleming shares three great practices for communicating unconditional love to your child. We hope these ideas will help you lean in your child’s direction relationally and cultivate influence in their life as they grow. Showing your child unconditional love and acceptance will also help them: Take healthy risks Feel stability Develop self-esteem Feel comfort Relieve anxiety Develop confidence   5 Love Languages of Children Connect with Waumba Land Instagram // Facebook

The greatest parents don’t strive to be perfect, but they are intentional about their personal growth. And as the most important influence in your child’s life, how you grow in spite of your failures and weaknesses will be more important than any attempt at perfection. But where do you start? In this episode, Kendra Fleming and Tim Cooper talk about the value of having a personal growth plan and offer practical tips and advice on how to create a plan for yourself. Tim shares the strategy for his own growth in these five areas:     Physically     Intellectually     Emotionally     Relationally     Financially   Tim has been on our North Point Ministries staff for over 10 years. In his current role, he encourages adults to get into community and surround themselves with relationships that help them grow. He has four children (ages 5, 7, 9, and 11). Connect with Tim Twitter Connect with Waumba Land Instagram // Facebook

Establishing traditions and creating memorable moments for your family are great things to start in the preschool years. But as parents of preschoolers, we know that your time is limited and creating over-the-top, Pinterest-worthy moments is almost impossible! So instead of trying to attain the unattainable, we want to encourage you to think about the everyday, in-between moments where you can celebrate little things in a big way. In Episode 3, Kendra Fleming and Mandee Young talk about why this matters and give you ideas for opportunities to create special moments with your family. Mandee has beenon our North Point Ministries staff for 17 years. She is currently the Creative Content Director for UpStreet, our elementary environment and has two boys (ages 10 and 12). Mandee is one of the greatest memory makers we know and we are confident that even just implementing a few small ideas will help your kids feel special and forever connected to your family.   Connect with Mandee Instagram Connect with Waum

Does teaching your preschooler how to pray feel overwhelming? Whether talking to God is a regular part of your life or you’re learning to pray, too, we want to take the pressure off! Prayer is simply talking to God as if he’s your best friend. We want to encourage and equip you to teach your preschooler that they can talk to him anytime, anywhere, about anything. It’s all part of your child growing, developing, and learning more about who God is. In this episode, Kendra Fleming shares the “why” behind the importance of prayer at this age and offers practical tips for establishing routines and forming new habits. We want to help you guide your kids toward praying for things that are on their hearts and minds. This teaches them that they have a connection to a God who loves them, made them, and cares about them. Here are some of the questions we talk about in this episode. These are great for helping your preschooler kick-start conversations with God:     What did you see today that was really “wow” and amazi

Do you ever wonder if your preschooler is prepared for the next stage of life? Big next steps, like kindergarten, are coming their way. We know you want them to be ready, and we’re here to help! Every parent wants their kids to be confident, independent, and capable, but sometimes it’s hard to know when to let them do more on their own and when to step in to help. In this episode, Kendra Fleming and Natalie Kitchen talk about practical tips for helping your preschooler gain confidence as they grow physically, socially, and spiritually. They talk about the importance of helping your child:     Take risks     Try to do things themselves     Have conversations with adults     Learn that they have a voice     Have confidence in God     Learn to pray   Natalie taught high school for nine years before joining our North Point Ministries staff. She has three children (ages 5, 7, and 9) and speaks with wisdom and experience. You’re sure to come away with some great tips for helping your preschooler gain confidence